Fears of 'an apocalypse' were raised by European officials as radiation levels soared. In another attack, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said: 'Let's not beat about the bush. They have visibly lost the essential of control (of the situation). That is our analysis, in any case, it's not what they are saying.'
Those fears are stoking a mass exodus from the country, with wealthy foreign experts engaged in a scramble to book private jets.
Charter companies reported charging as much as $160,000 for a flight to Tokyo. with one saying it had a request from 14 bankers who 'did not care about price.'